


Sessions

by Geonn



Category: Original Work
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Dark, Detectives, F/F, Lawyers, Therapy, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-03
Updated: 2011-11-03
Packaged: 2017-10-25 16:17:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/272273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geonn/pseuds/Geonn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A detective and her district attorney wife attend couples' therapy to sort through the problems stemming from the DA's transformation into a vampire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sessions

_Session 18_ -  
"Cynthia, why don't you begin this week?"

The regal woman glanced at her partner, shrugged, and laced her fingers together on her knee. Her legs were crossed and she was sitting rigidly on one side of the couch. She tilted her foot so that the heel came out of her shoe, picking her words carefully. Finally she spoke. "I suppose I'm still coming to terms with the fact she doesn't want to be married to me."

Dina sighed. "I never said that. All I said was that I wanted clarification."

Cynthia turned to face her. "And what good would clarification do? What would you do with it?"

"Til death do we part, remember? You said those words, Cyn."

"Yes, and I still mean them. Do you?"

Dina closed her eyes. "Yes. But are we still married? Am I still your wife? You're a vampire, Cynthia. Undead. Do you have any idea what that does to me from a legal standpoint? I'm technically your widow."

Cynthia arched an eyebrow. "And you wish to be remarried."

"I don't know. I don't know if I even have to be remarried. I don't think we _can_ be remarried. I spent the past ten years waiting for the _law_ to say I could marry my wife. Now we have to go through it all over again with living/undead marriage. I'm just sick of it. I'm sick of fighting for the right to say I love you in public."

Cynthia slid her hand across the couch and Dina took it. She no longer cringed at how cold it felt. It wasn't ice; she still conducted heat, but it had taken a lot of getting used to. Cynthia turned her hand around and their fingers laced together.

The therapist, Dr. Nell, rested her chin on her hand as she watched them. "Dina, have you given any more thought to Cynthia's donation request?"

"If you mean fairly, no. I haven't. I'm sorry, but the idea just disgusts me. I can't imagine going to the fridge for a beer and seeing a canteen of my blood sitting on the top shelf. And the thought of using the microwave after she's warmed some of it up, I-I can't... it's gross to think about it, let alone think about actually drawing the blood."

Cynthia said, "I told you I would--"

"Yes. I know. I'm sorry, Cyn, but that's not on the table."

"You don't have a problem with her consuming animal blood."

Dina laughed. "That's like being okay with your wife liking her steaks rare. It's animal blood. It's not the same thing as if she's chugging down a pint of me. She can have a nice thick porterhouse, but I'd prefer she not cut a slice off my rear end and grill it for dinner."

"It's just blood. You used to donate blood in college..."

"For emergencies. That was before vampires started popping up everywhere."

Cynthia inclined her head. "It was before we went public, but we were around. Blood banks were very popular--"

Dina let go of her hand and jumped up. "Would you stop that, please? Stop talking like you've been one of them for your entire life. Like they're some religion you were brought up in. You're like, you're like someone who converts to Judaism and then starts talking about the struggles of your people. Your name is Cynthia Montrose, you're an attorney, and you were born in 1971, and you've only been a vampire for two years. So just stop with the history lessons, okay?"

Cynthia withstood the tirade without blinking. When Dina stopped talking, she turned away. "I'm sorry."

Dina dropped back onto the couch. "No, I am. I shouldn't... have said all of that."

"You've obviously been storing it for a while," Dr. Nell said.

"Well, maybe I should have had more tact. I'm sorry, baby."

Cynthia shook her head. "You have nothing to apologize for." She took Dina's hand again, squeezing it. "I will try to do better."

"Thank you."

 _1999_ -  
Detective Dina Vitale paced to the landing, returning to the apartment with her hands on her hips. She was short but pugnacious, giving off enough of an aura for anyone nearby to know not to mess with her. She wore a raincoat with the collar turned up and gray slacks that had been soaked in puddles. Raindrops clung to the short, short strands of her brown hair. The cut was a man's style, but it suited her; no muss, no fuss. She checked her watch again and her dark eyes grew even darker.

"This is fucking ridiculous," she muttered to her partner. Owen shrugged, still slumped against the wall next to the suspect's door. His hands were in his pockets, his coat trailing down behind him like folded wings of some insect. Dina was livid when she heard the downstairs door open. Blocky heels clicked against the tile in the foyer, and Dina jogged down the stairs to intercept the Assistant District Attorney.

"Took your own sweet--"

Cynthia Montrose looked up and struck her dumb with just one look. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back in a braid, her blue eyes seemingly carved from ice. She wore a white turtleneck beneath her overcoat, and she stood with her right foot on a higher step than the left. She looked like a victorious warrior woman surveying her new kingdom as she held up a folded sheet of paper.

"Your warrant, Detective. I apologize it took me so long."

Dina took it from her. "Try not to let it happen again." The fury had gone out of her voice, though she tried to fake it. She went back up the stairs where Owen was smirking.

He pushed away from the wall when he saw her. "So the new DA must be hot."

"Shut up," she muttered. She brushed past him and pushed through the door of their suspect's apartment. She hoped she wasn't blushing.

 _Session 23_ -  
The office was gloomy, both from the curtains that were tightly drawn shut in deference to the patient and the mood. The hood and veil Cynthia was forced to wear for the short walk between the parking garage and the business park hung on the coat rack, a slightly darker shadow among the other shadows in the room.

Cynthia's voice was meek when she spoke. "It was an accident. I've apologized countless times. How many ways does she want me to say it?"

"She's sitting right there," Dr. Nell said. "Why don't you ask her?"

"She doesn't talk to me." She looked at her wife. "She ignores me. At home, on the way here. I wasn't even sure we were coming here today until she got the keys and walked out the door. I had to take my own car."

Dina remained stoic on the other side of the couch, leaving the maximum distance between her and Cynthia.

"Why don't you tell me, in your own words, what happened?"

Cynthia cleared her throat. "We were attempting to make love. It's been difficult lately since my... since the incident. She doesn't find me attractive anymore."

"snotru."

Dr. Nell and Cynthia both looked at Dina. She was staring intently at her hands, working at the cuticle of her thumb. She glanced up when she realized they were looking at her and she wiped her sleeve over her cheek. "I said, 'that's not true.' I still find her beautiful. I just can't... it's hard to deal with the things about her that have changed."

Cynthia looked away and Dina looked back at her hands. Finally, Cynthia continued her story.

"We were in bed, and I thought things were going well. She was responding to me, and I to her. It was almost like the old days." She smiled slightly, but it faded fast. "I got carried away. I bit her. On the thigh. She told me to stop, but as soon as I saw her blood it was like I was put into a trance. I couldn't help myself, and I drank."

"I begged you to stop."

Cynthia glanced toward Dina and then fell silent.

Dr. Nell adjusted her horn-rimmed glasses. "Cynthia, do you understand why Dina is upset?"

Cynthia's eyes flashed. "Do I under-- yes. I'm an attorney, Dr. Nell, I understand exactly what my actions mean under the new law. I drank from her without permission, which constitutes rape. I'm not saying she shouldn't be angry at me. Hell, if she pressed charges--"

Dina suddenly laughed. "Sure. I'm going to have Huey and Jack come down and arrest my wife. That'll give the rumor mill enough grist for a few months, huh?" She pushed a hand through her hair, leaving spikes of hair standing in its wake. "I'm not going to press charges. You didn't mean to do it. But that doesn't make me feel any better. Do you understand that?"

"Of course I do."

Cynthia pursed her lips and ran her fingers over the pad of her thumb. Dina smoothed down her hair and stared at the painting that hung on the wall behind Dr. Nell's chair.

Dr. Nell said, "So you haven't made love since the incident?"

"We have," Dina said. "It's not the same."

"Seems the same to me."

"Yeah, because I'm still alive." There was a bite in Dina's words, and she dropped her chin as if she immediately regretted them. "I have a pulse. I don't pop out fangs when I get overexcited. I can go out in the daytime. Jesus, of course it feels the same to _you_." She stood up and walked to the door. "I can't... I can't do this today, Dr. Nell, I'm sorry. I can't."

 _1999_ -  
Dina's was the only desk still lit, her shoulders hunched as she signed a final report. She put down her pen, flexed her fingers, and glanced up as the doors to the bullpen opened to admit Cynthia Montrose. Dina still didn't know how to react to the new ADA. She was tall, elegant, and looked like a runway model even in an off-the-rack brown pantsuit. Dina cleared her throat and focused on her paperwork. She looked at Dina, then scanned the room to make sure she was alone before she came over.

"Detective Vitale. I wanted to let you know that the jury came back on Douglas Morrison. Guilty on all counts."

Dina punched the air and leaned back in her seat. "Hallelujah. The justice system works." She smiled and extended her hand across the desk. "Good job, Ms. Montrose."

Cynthia hesitated and then took Dina's hand. "You gave me the iron bars. I just built the cage."

"It was a group effort." She said the next thing without giving her brain a chance to veto it. "Let me take you out for a real celebration. We'll get a drink, maybe a bite to eat."

"Is that tradition? Because I plan to win a lot of cases for you, and I can be a very expensive date."

Dina shrugged into her coat, unable to stop from smiling. "Let's just see how tonight goes and play it by ear."

Cynthia returned her smile, which softened her features dramatically. Dina couldn't think, couldn't move for a moment as the image of that smile burned itself into her mind. What she'd thought was just a simple crush had just reached the precipice of being much, much more dangerous.

"Where do you want to go?" Cynthia asked, breaking the spell.

"Italian."

Cynthia nodded and let the way out. Dina exhaled sharply and shook her head as she followed her from the bullpen. Under her breath, she muttered, "With a capital T, and that rhymes with C and that stands for Cynthia Montrose..."

 _Session 24_ -  
"I take it your wife won't be joining us for this session."

Dina shook her head. "She thought it would be best if I came alone. Is that all right?"

Dr. Nell gestured that she didn't mind either way. "This is a place for you to work out your issues. If Cynthia isn't here, you can use the time to work out what you want to say to her. A dry run, as it were. What would you like to say to Cynthia?"

"I want to tell her that it doesn't matter. I still love her, and she's still... there. So nothing else should matter. But that's a lie. She's not the same woman I fell in love with. She's different. She's a thing." She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. "Where were you when the reports first started?"

She didn't have to clarify what she meant. History was recently split into Pre- and Post-Vampire. Dr. Nell leaned back, obviously uncomfortable at being under scrutiny. "I was in bed. My son called and told me to turn on the television. At first I thought it was some sort of Halloween prank gone bad." She smiled. "I suppose it sort of was."

The first vampires appeared in New York, at Rockefeller Center, on Halloween night. A trio of them got into a scuffle with teenagers. The vampires just wanted to be left alone, but the teens wouldn't let up. Finally one of the vampires exposed his fangs and tore into the leader of the kids. By the time the police arrived on the scene, the teenagers were dead. The cops tried to subdue the vamps, which caused a brawl. Eighteen police officers versus three vampires led to a bloodbath that was plastered all over the news.

By the first day of November, the existence of vampires was common knowledge.

"Cynthia was at work. I ran... I literally ran the entire way. The DA's office wasn't far from Rockefeller Center so when the calls first came in, I thought... I don't know. So I ran the entire way. We missed each other by two minutes. She was running to the police station." She smiled sadly. "I called her and told her to wait. When I got back, we sat in the on-call room and watched the news. They kept telling us it wasn't a prank, it wasn't some Halloween stunt. There really were monsters on the loose. They didn't start calling them vampires for a couple weeks."

Dr. Nell nodded. She remembered; everyone remembered.

"Cyn was quiet for so long. The first thing she said to me, the first thing she said when the news finally stopped, was that she was sickened by them. She was terrified of them on a visceral level. It made her physically ill to think they existed. And now, now, she expects me to just accept that she _is_ one. She can't understand how hard that is for me. If it had been me..." She looked away.

"It very well could have been you. Couldn't it? Why don't you tell me about the man who bit her?"

"He had everyone fooled. We thought he was just a run-of-the-mill junkie. There was blood on his sweater, but he was holding a knife. What kind of vampire uses a knife? We got him cleaned up. We cuffed him. Cynthia came in to offer him a deal. She doesn't even know what set him off, no one does. He went from docile and catatonic to a predator in the blink of an eye. By the time we got into the room, she was... she was..."

Dina wasn't even aware of the tears dripping off her chin until her throat closed. Dr. Nell rose from her chair and held out a handkerchief.

 _2009_ -  
Blood stained one corner of the room, a Rorschach test of red that spread from floor to ceiling. Cynthia was in the corner, sprawled on the floor with her legs sticking straight out in front of her. The vampire spun as the door opened, leaping at them with Cynthia's blood staining his mouth and teeth. Dina and Owen both opened fire, the blasts deafening in the small space. The vampire was effectively decapitated, and his corpse turned to ash just before it hit them.

Dina choked on the ash, nauseated by the knowledge her wife's murderer was coating her jacket and throat as she knelt next to the corpse. She couldn't cry, couldn't grieve, couldn't even think. The world was hollow. The entire universe was this room, and time had just stopped. She cradled Cynthia's head with one hand, then pressed her gun against Cynthia's temple.

She hesitated. Just a fraction of a second, but it was enough.

Cynthia's eyes opened.

 _Session 29_ -  
"It's not ignorance."

"I didn't say ignorance."

"You just implied that if I 'learned more' maybe I would accept you better."

Cynthia closed her eyes. "All I meant was that there are things you _can't_ know. Being a vampire gives you insight to the entire race. I can feel them, in the past, and there have always been two camps. The predators, and those who wish to coexist with humanity. The predators are a minority, but they get all the press. Three vampires destroyed centuries of secrecy. The majority of us simply want to live our lives quietly."

Dr. Nell nodded. "Dina, why is that difficult for you to accept?"

"It's bullshit. It's the spin, the... the Super Bowl commercial message. 'We just want to be your friends.' She can say she's different all she wants, but the fact remains that it is an _animal_ hunger. She can control it in controlled situations. But every time I'm on my period or get a nosebleed, I feel like I have to check into a hotel."

Cynthia looked at her. "So we shouldn't even try? If we make one mistake, it cancels out everything else? I drank from you once, Dina. Do I have to pay for the rest of my life?"

"No, just for the rest of mine. That's all. You'll live on, right?" Cynthia's eyes narrowed. "You're immortal, and I'm not. I'm just your first wife. The first few years of your eternity."

Dr. Nell said, "Is that the source of your animosity? You fear that Cynthia will leave you behind one day?"

"It's not even a question. Either I'll grow old and die while she stays the same, or she'll change me into... one of them. Which one am I supposed to root for? One day I'll be seventy and she'll still look like that. People will think she's my granddaughter. I don't know how..." She closed her eyes. "I feel like I've already lost most of her. And as time goes on, I feel like I'm going to lose the rest of her, too. And I am constantly... braced for the other shoe to drop." She wrapped her arms around herself and ducked her head.

 _2000_ -  
"Are you ever going to kiss me, Detective Vitale?"

Dina lifted her head quickly, looked around, and then looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Cynthia grabbed the trailing end of Dina's scarf and pulled her back, reeling her in. Dina fought her, but her protestations were weak. Cynthia gripped Dina's upper arms and looked into her eyes. The street was dark, but the moon was bright enough to see everything. Dina looked away, trying to disguise what she'd been fighting all night.

"Let me go."

"No."

"Cynthia, don't."

Cynthia let go and took a step back. "Walk inside your building, Detective. Change into something more comfortable, heat up a frozen dinner, and watch television until you're sleepy enough for bed. Do all of that, and tomorrow morning I'll take you to breakfast as a friend. Just as a friend." She put her hands into her pockets and turned away.

"Wait."

"Goodnight, Detective."

"Damn you, _wait_."

Cynthia turned, and Dina grabbed her. Their first kiss was as violent as a punch, and they both felt it. Dina thrust her tongue into Cynthia's mouth, her face hot. Cynthia slipped her hands into Dina's coat, twisting her lower body so that her right foot was between both of Dina's shoes. Their kiss became sweeter as it continued, their lips becoming soft to the touch. Dina touched the tight braid of Cynthia's hair. She broke the kiss and moved her lips to Cynthia's chin, her entire body trembling as she pulled away. She kept her hands on Cynthia's neck and closed her eyes.

"I don't want to be the dyke cop. I don't want to be a fucking stereotype butch lesbian with a badge. I don't... want... that."

Cynthia let her fingers hang off Dina's forearms. "What do you want?"

Dina opened her eyes. "I want to see you with your hair down."

"Take me upstairs. I'll take it down for you."

Dina was frozen, stuck between two possible outcomes. Two roads diverged in a wood. She dropped her hands from Cynthia's neck, took her hand, and guided her back to the entrance of her brownstone.

 _Session 43_ -  
"She gave me a stake."

"Like for dinner?"

Dina laughed without humor. "No. She gave me a wooden stake."

Dr. Nell's eyes widened behind her glasses. "And what message were you trying to convey with that, Cynthia?"

"I was giving her the power to end me. When she feels--"

"Asking about our vows means I want a divorce and we end up here. Now she gives me a stake and tells me to use it as I see fit." Dina shook her head, trembling with anger. "The fucking nerve. Like one day I'm just supposed to decide I'm too old for her, so I stick the point against her chest and say, 'It's been real, babe,' before I pound it in? Then I just take a Dustbuster to the sheets, I guess. I told her where she could stick the damn thing."

"Cynthia?"

"I don't know how to please her." Cynthia's voice was devoid of emotion. "We've been coming here for nearly an entire year. First she isn't sure she wants to be married to me anymore, then she's afraid I will leave her behind when she grows older. I thought she wanted something to ensure I would always be with her."

"It's sickening. Do you even think I would be able to... even if I wanted to?"

"I thought it was a gesture."

Dina shook her head.

"I'm sorry."

Dina said, "I don't know what I want you to do. There's no way to fix this. Either you're a vampire, or you're dead, and neither one of those things is appealing to me. I want you. The you that you used to be. Whatever else you give me will always be second best." She stood. "I'm sorry, but that's the way I feel. You can't fix this, Dr. Nell, nobody can fix this. I'm sorry."

Dina walked out of the room, leaving Cynthia and Dr. Nell alone in the darkness.

 _Session 44_ -  
Cancelled.

 _2005_ -  
There was a white flower in Cynthia's hair. Her face and shoulders were pink from the sun. She put down her hair before the plane left La Guardia, and she kept it down ever since. Dina was on the bed, propped up by pillows, smiling at the angelic sight in front of her. Cynthia unzipped her dress and let it fall, stepping out of it before she crossed the room in her white lacy underwear. Her breasts were small and tipped with tiny pink nipples, and Dina licked her lips as her eyes trailed down the flat plane of her stomach.

"Hello, wife."

"Not partner?"

Cynthia crawled onto the bed. "No. Wife. You're my wife." She kissed Dina's ankle, up to the inside of her thigh. Dina closed her eyes and threaded her fingers through Cynthia's hair, guiding her higher. She spread her legs and Cynthia explored with her fingertips and tongue. She kissed Dina through her panties, teasingly at first but quickly becoming hungry. Dina curled her toes in the sheets and rocked her hips, resting her hands on Cynthia's shoulders as her wife pushed aside the crotch of her panties and pressed the flat of her tongue against Dina's flesh.

They weren't traditional; they'd gone to bed together before their first official date. But when the wedding was set, they both agreed to abstain for one month beforehand. It was torture, but they'd succeeded. But now, every touch was like an electric shock. Dina closed her eyes and struggled to stay in control, but she was quickly losing the battle.

"Cyn..."

"Sh." She added a finger and Dina cried out. She dropped both hands to the mattress and grabbed hold, tugging on the sheets rather than yanking out handfuls of Cynthia's golden hair.

Cynthia kissed her way up Dina's body, licking her navel before suckling her nipples. Where the sun had pinkened Cynthia's skin, it darkened Dina's. She described herself as swarthy, her hair lighter where it had grown out into a shaggy mop, but Cynthia said it made her look exotic. She sucked a spot on Dina's neck as Dina wrapped her legs around Cynthia's waist. They twisted until Dina was sitting on top of Cynthia, staring down at her.

"Happy honeymoon." She brushed the hair out of Cynthia's eyes. "Regrets?"

"That we waited five years."

They kissed deeply, and Dina pushed down Cynthia's underwear. Cynthia writhed underneath her, helping her get them off, and Dina brushed her hand up the inside of Cynthia's thigh before cupping her sex. Cynthia licked her lips, and Dina kissed her as she began stroking with two fingers. She sucked Cynthia's tongue as her fingers slipped inside, and Cynthia dragged her fingernails up and down Dina's sides.

Cynthia kissed Dina's shoulder and trailed her lips down to her elbows.

"I love you."

Dina cupped Cynthia's face. "I love you, too."

They kissed softly, and Dina began rocking her hips. Cynthia whimpered and said, "Baby, we should wait--"

"No... we've waited enough, don't you think?"

Cynthia grinned, and then nodded. "Yeah. Much too much waiting."

Dina lifted herself and adjusted her position on the mattress, straddling Cynthia's head before she bowed down. It was a cliché to spend the entire honeymoon in bed, but she didn't care. She had four full days with nothing to do but make love to her partner. She wasn't going to waste one minute of it.

 _Session 49_ -  
Cancelled.

 _2010_ -  
With Cynthia's help, vampires were allowed citizenship on a probationary basis. She filed the paperwork and the press plastered her photo everywhere as the 'Face of the Vampiric American.' She was the poster child for acceptance, for the theory that most vampires just wanted to be left alone. She appeared on television and radio to spread her message. She was an activist, and she was good at what she did. Good enough that the state board reinstated her license and allowed her to practice law.

Four months after Cynthia's bite, Dina returned to their bedroom. Their lovemaking was powerful enough to convince Dina to permanently leave the guest room, but their sexual connection was never the same. Dina fought the urge to cringe from her wife's touch, and Cynthia found it hard to instigate when her wife seemed sickened by the sight of her.

Soon they became roommates. Dina changed to the overnight shift, since it was just easier than trying to sleep during the night while Cynthia was awake. She became nocturnal out of necessity. She sealed the bedroom windows without being asked, depriving herself of the early morning sunlight that she loved so much in deference to Cynthia's needs.

They were in bed just before dusk, with Cynthia working on her laptop while Dina scanned a file or read a book. One night they were sitting together but in their own worlds, the rest of the apartment silent around them. Dina thought about putting her book aside and settling under the blankets, knowing what Cynthia would have said before the bite.

 _"Going to sleep?"_

 _"Unless you have a better idea..."_

This time, Cynthia just glanced at her and went back to typing. Dina turned off her lap, rolled onto her side, and slipped her hand under the pillow. A few minutes later, she heard Cynthia putting away her computer. She hated listening to Cynthia go to bed now. It wasn't a necessity, it was just something she did out of ceremony and tradition. She sank down on the mattress, pulled the blankets up to her chest, and lay with her head centered on her pillow. That was how she remained until they woke; her eyes closed and in a state of suspended animation until their alarm went off.

The few times they still tried having sex, it turned into an awkward fumbling match before either of them got very far. Cynthia would leave the room, frustrated, and Dina would be forced to masturbate in order to sleep.

The subject of marriage came up in the form of Dina's case, in which a woman had murdered her husband when she discovered he was married to someone else. She idly explained the facts in the case to Cynthia, and then added, "I guess she took 'til death' literally. I wonder how exactly that works for you and me."

"How do you mean?"

"You're dead. Does that mean we're not married anymore?"

Cynthia tensed. "Would you be happier if it did?"

Dina frowned. "Where did that come from?"

"You asked the question."

"Christ, Cyn. Forget I said anything, all right?"

"Would you be happier if my... current state meant we weren't married anymore?"

Dina opened her mouth, then shook her head and started over. "No. Of course not."

"You paused."

Dina tossed the file to the foot of the bed. "Please don't do this, Cyn. Just spare me, this once. Write it off to a slip of the tongue and let's go to bed."

"I want to know the answer."

Dina climbed out of bed and pulled a coat on over her pajamas. "I told you the answer. If you're going to push me and nag me until I say something that _sounds_ like a yes just so you'll shut up, then I'm going to leave now. Goodnight, Cynthia."

"Where are you going?" Cynthia threw the blankets off her legs and climbed out of bed.

Dina waved her away. She fled the apartment with Cynthia trailing behind her. She wasn't trying to catch up; if she was she could have overtaken Dina in the blink of an eye. They reached the lobby and Dina stepped out into the sun. She looked back and saw Cynthia frozen at the very edge of the sunlight that fell on the floor.

"I'll be back tonight. Maybe." She wrapped her scarf around her neck and walked away.

When she got home, Dr. Nell's name and number were written on a pad by the phone.

 _Session 50_ -  
Session cancelled.

 _2011_ -  
The sirens sounded close. In New York, they always sounded like they were just a few blocks away, and with her enhanced hearing it was even worse. She stood, gripping the edge of her table with her left hand as she eyed the window. Something was wrong. She could smell it in the air. She could sense it. Her nostrils flared, and she felt the wood give way under her fingers. It splintered and she hissed at the pain.

"Counselor?"

"I have to ask for a brief recess, your honor."

The judge furrowed his brow. "For what reason?"

"I don't know." She left her materials behind, pushing through the swinging door that led to the gallery as the judge ordered her to stop. Her high heels only slowed her down, so she stepped out of them and ran barefoot through the courthouse. She was little more than a blur, a blonde woman in a short navy blue skirt and a matching blazer trailing behind her like a cape as she ran as if someone had changed the speed on playback.

The people who didn't move fast enough got shoved out of her way. She slammed through the front doors, pausing on the sidewalk to regain her bearings. Her pantyhose tore against the pavement, and the bare flesh of her soles scraped over the rough ground as she ran toward the sirens. Her heart couldn't pound, but she felt its absence.

Something was wrong. She could sense it.

When she drank from Dina, she'd gained a connection to her. Vampires didn't talk about it, because it was too difficult to explain to their normal counterparts. She could feel Dina, her stress and her anger and her arousal. The dark side of the vampire race used it to control their minions. Cynthia used it to avoid fights with her wife. And now it was ringing like alarm bells in her mind. Something was wrong. Dina was terrified.

She reached the crime scene in less than three minutes, shoving past the police cars parked sideways in the street to stop traffic. A detective from Vamp Crimes tried to stop her, his fangs extended as he grabbed her arm. Cynthia showed her own fangs and broke his arm, shoved him down the stairs. She knew he would survive, but she didn't care about him.

It had just happened. The smell of gunpowder and cordite ( _and blood, which was fresh and sweet and delicious, so thick she could taste it, and its taste was familiar_ ) was fresh in the air. A beat cop tried to get in her way but he saw her fangs and pissed in his pants. Cynthia swatted him aside and hit her knees next to Dina.

The bullet had hit her in the upper chest, grazing the vest she wore before it ripped open her chest. The blood was thick, dark and oozing, and Cynthia despised the hunger she felt. She withdrew her fangs through sheer willpower, her eyes returning to normal. Her face was human, but pale as she touched her wife's cheeks. Dina's eyes swam across empty air until they locked on her. She smiled.

Cynthia couldn't speak. Dina touched Cynthia's face with a bloody hand, smearing it on her cheek and awakening her hunger. Cynthia fought back her urges.

"My love, no..."

"Don't..." Dina's voice died in her throat, her eyes rolling back in her head. She dropped her hand to Cynthia's neck and tightened her fingers. She focused, using all her strength to focus on her wife's face. She was deathly pale, and blood speckled her lips and chin. Dina wanted to kiss her and lick it away with her tongue, but she stared into Dina's eyes.

"Don't le-let me..."

"What?" Cynthia drew in a breath. All she could smell was Dina and blood and her head swam. Dina's head lolled back. She could feel her wife fading and she cried out in frustration. Her mind completed Dina's last wish in two contradictory ways.

 _Don't let me die_.

 _Don't let me become one of you_.

"Dina... please... tell me what to do."

The life was fading from the body underneath her. Dina slumped against the wall. If a change was going to be possible, it had to happen _now_. Or she could do nothing. She could watch the love of her life die and become a cold thing right in front of her eyes. Cynthia bared her fangs out of sheer frustration, tears burning her eyes before they rolled down her cheeks.

"What are you doing?" a detective shouted. He tried to pull her away, but she clung to Dina. She looked at Dina and made her decision.

 _Session 51_ -  
Cynthia arrived alone and told her story. When she finished, a visibly shaken Dr. Nell simply held her hands out in surrender. "I don't know what you want me to say, Cynthia."

"Tell me I made the right choice."

"I can't do that. I'm so sorry, but that's something--"

Cynthia stood and walked out of the room without waiting for Dr. Nell to finish speaking.

 _Session 52_ -  
Therapy cancelled by Mrs. Montrose.


End file.
